M.A. Oral History at Columbia University
As of Fall 2024, I am transferring into the M.S. Documentary Journalism program at Columbia University of New York. However, my journey at Columbia started as an M.A. Oral History candidate in Fall 2023. In Spring 2019, I earned my M.F.A. at The City College of New York, where my thesis project was a parafictional exhibition about a Salvadoran diaspora woman's journey from girlhood in the aftermath of El Salvador's civil war during the Internet age. Media included video, photography, sculpture, installation, performance, and poetry. I was awarded the Helen & Sydney Jacoff Scholarship for further graduate study, CCNY's highest award for graduating students. However, I decided to postpone my studies due to the pandemic, the development of my play "Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares," feature film Sirena's Gallery, and other projects. My OHMA projects focused on experimental documentary work related to Salvadoran diaspora living on the East Coast of the United States.
Here are my Fall 2023 courses:
• Oral History Program: Fieldwork, Production, and Archiving
• Oral History Program: Oral History Workshop
• Oral History Program: Roots & Branches of Oral History
• Spanish Department: Collective Trauma, Testimony & Trauma
• Journalism Department: The Written Word - Feature Writing
My most substantial project coming out of Fall 2023 coursework is the feature-length experimental documentary La Gringa Guanaca. Work completed for my Feature Writing course was published in the Brooklyn Downtown Star and Greenpoint Star. This includes an essay originally titled "The Gentrifier."
Here is my Spring 2024 course:
• Serious Play: Oral History and the Art of Story
You can watch the final project for my Serious Play course here:
• Oral History Program: Fieldwork, Production, and Archiving
• Oral History Program: Oral History Workshop
• Oral History Program: Roots & Branches of Oral History
• Spanish Department: Collective Trauma, Testimony & Trauma
• Journalism Department: The Written Word - Feature Writing
My most substantial project coming out of Fall 2023 coursework is the feature-length experimental documentary La Gringa Guanaca. Work completed for my Feature Writing course was published in the Brooklyn Downtown Star and Greenpoint Star. This includes an essay originally titled "The Gentrifier."
Here is my Spring 2024 course:
• Serious Play: Oral History and the Art of Story
You can watch the final project for my Serious Play course here:
I also completed independent study in Spanish conversation, grammar, and literary analysis via The Teachers College at Columbia, as well as a non-credit course in Creative Writing from Personal Archives. My writing and photography piece "Untangling the Mess of Diasporic Yearning" was selected for the MODA Critical Review, which will be released in May 2024.